==Background=='''Fossil Fuels ''' are predominately [[hydrocarbon]] material formed from plant material over geological time under heat and pressure. Examples include [[coal]] and [[oil]] and their derived products of [[petroleum]] or [[gasoline]]. A lot of coal comes from [[West Virginia]], [[Wyoming]] and [[Pennsylvania]].A lot of oil comes from the [[Middle East]] and [[Venezuela]]. The United States has many oil reserves that remain untapped due to interference from [[Environmentalism|environmentalists]]. * "We owe our industrial society and elevated standard of living to fossil fuels." [http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cas/Trenberth/XchangeGray_FtCollinsFeb08.pdf]
==Uses==
Fossil fuels are used in the production of plastic, and burned as fuel or for heat.
==Downsides==
Fossil fuels have been criticized as producing a lot of pollution, including [[sulfur dioxide ]] (from small amounts of organic sulfur compounds) , which sometimes produces [[acid rain]] , and [[carbon dioxide]], a [[greenhouse gas]].
==Finite Resource?==
*[http://www.bydesign.com/fossilfuels/links/html/coal.html]]
*[http://www.exxon.com/USA-English/gFM/home_Contact_Us/homepage.asp]
[[Category:Earth Sciences]][[category: earth scienceenvironment]]